Chasm
by irite
Summary: Movie-verse, post Avengers. Unequal relationships are almost always going to fail in the end.


**My apologies to the residents of Potts Camp and Peppertown for bastardizing the origins of your towns' names.**

**I have never been to NYC, so what you see is a combination of research and my imagination. Basically, if it's a proper name, it's real. If it's vague, I made it up. Feel free to call me on any mistakes.**

**Many thanks to my beta dysprositos for being wonderful. And for making the cover pic.**

* * *

Tony was really dedicated to being a good fiancé. He'd programmed JARVIS to force him out of the lab at 6:55 every evening so he could go wash his hands and have a nice sit-down dinner with Pepper. Every Friday was date-night, and they took turns selecting an activity.

Everything was routine, and if both Tony and Pepper were honest with themselves, they were a little bored. Tony was considering a trip to Monte Carlo, no publicity stunts or deranged scientists involved. Pepper was nagging Tony more, trying to get him to have a good knockdown-dragout fight with her.

They both craved adrenaline, but neither was getting it out of their relationship. Even the sex was becoming routine. They had never been too adventurous, but straight vanilla had never been their thing, either. Now, they were lucky if the other didn't claim they were too tired for missionary.

When December rolled around, both partners threw themselves into a paroxysm of planning. They went skating at Rockefeller Center. Despite Tony's disguise, they had a great time. They saw the Christmas shows on Broadway and a few off-Broadway that Pepper had heard were good.

They both were picking new places to eat now, trying to outdo each other in a competition to see who could find (and consume) the craziest food. Pepper was currently winning, after hearing about wd~50 from a co-worker. They combined foods to make combinations that were actually tasty, like licorice and fish.

This contest eased some of the tension, but the week after Christmas things got heated again. Tony would leave their bedroom after Pepper fell asleep and lock himself in his workshop until she left for work the next morning. Pepper sometimes wouldn't come to the Tower at all, returning to her own little apartment.

Months passed with this on-again, off-again type of relationship. Inevitably, relations were improved for a week or so after Iron Man made an appearance, so Tony was subtly bringing out the suit more, 'helping' SHIELD.

He always made sure that he was on the news and that he had a new bottle of champagne waiting on the countertop in the Tower.

After a couple bad experiences, he learned to buy the weakest stuff possible, or he would come home to a drunk Pepper. Not that she wasn't amusing, but still.

* * *

Pepper's birthday was approaching and Tony knew that he needed to do something special. Using Iron Man to gain her sympathy no longer worked all of the time. If he wanted this relationship to survive, he knew that he would need to bring out the big guns.

He contacted the caterer and florist weeks in advance, ordering a lemon-vanilla cake and lilies.

The problem of her present was another matter entirely, though. He spent most of his free time agonizing, ordering things only to send them back again.

He went to Tiffany's the week before D-day, as he'd begun calling it, and bought her a stunning necklace. It was citrine and diamond, expensive but understated, just the way he knew she liked her jewelry.

This wasn't enough, however. He needed a statement present, one that would really impress her.

It was now three days before her birthday and Tony still had nothing. He was absent-mindedly browsing the internet when he saw an article stating that the ten-thousandth person had named a star for someone.

Now this, this was good. Tony couldn't get Pepper a star, though. It was so unoriginal. Ten-thousand other people had done it before.

Tony had an idea, better than stars. Why not name something in Pepper's home state for her? She was from Mississippi, no matter how many speech lessons she went took to remove her accent.

What to name, and what to name it?

Only one-and-a-half days remained when Tony decided on a city. He checked a map, criss-crossing the whole state several times to see what seemed acceptable for a name. With a little help from JARVIS, he found two small towns with money problems that would no doubt so gratified from a sizable donation that they would change their names, no problem. Because why only re-name one thing when you can do two?

The first city was Forrest Camp, apparently named for some Civil War General or something. Tony contacted City Hall and had worked out an agreement and gotten the contract signed within two hours. The city would become Potts Camp. For the first time in weeks, the ball of nervous tension in Tony's stomach began to unwind.

The second city, Walleytown, was apparently more attached to their name. It was the name of one of their founders, or something. Tony really didn't care, and after he added another couple zeroes to his proposal, the City Council was only too happy to do business. They agreed on Peppertown and faxed the signed paperwork to Tony.

He wrapped up both contracts carefully and relaxed. For the first time since he was six and not ill, Tony took an afternoon nap.

* * *

Pepper was beginning to get a little edgy. She adored Tony, she really did, but she was a little person at heart, unused to the big world he lived in. The grandiosity of it all made her almost nauseated at times.

She had tried to tell Tony that she was uncomfortable, but he had amazing powers of selective hearing.

December had been great, phenomenal really. They had gone ice-skating and done other _normal_ couple things like trying to see who could find the most outlandish restaurants.

After Christmas, however, she started to feel ill at ease. She had a mound of presents from Tony, most of which she doubted he'd picked out himself or really even seen. She had a pretty good mental image of Tony or some Stark Industries employee walking into a department store, presenting an associate with her sizes, and buying every third item out of the stack.

When Iron Man was called into action, Pepper didn't know how to react. Tony seemed gratified when she fawned over him afterward, so whenever she got wind of him in action she packed up whatever she was working on and headed to the Tower.

The omnipresent liquor would be on the counter and she couldn't help but start without him a few times, the waiting was so unbearable.

She was sick of this rocky relationship and feeling like she was letting herself down. She resolved to see if Tony had heeded her complaints about extravagant presents. If he had, the problem probably lay with Pepper herself and she would go see a therapist, do whatever was needed to put things back on track.

If Tony didn't listen, though, then all bets were off. Pepper refused to shackle herself to a man who would not listen to her.

* * *

Both anticipated her birthday, but for drastically different reasons.

* * *

Pepper took her birthday off work. She slept in, until 9 am, when Tony woke her by bringing her breakfast in bed. She knew that he hadn't cooked it, but she appreciated the simple gesture.

She took her time eating and dressing, then they went to the deli down the street for lunch, just the two of them.

She Skyped with her family after lunch. They talked for two hours and insisted she open her presents from them in front of the webcam. Tony hovered in the background, working on his tablet, trying to be unobtrusive.

It worked too well for him. When Pepper's mother asked how things were with Tony, Pepper heaved a sigh and said she was uncomfortable. The sheer grandiosity of his life left her feeling small, too small for his world. He had toned things down for her birthday, and she was hopeful that she was finally getting through to him.

* * *

Tony sat, frozen, along the back wall. He could tell that Pepper had forgotten he was here. Her headphones made the conversation one-sided to him, but he could see her mother's sympathetic expression and the anger at the corners of her father's eyes.

Suddenly, he was regretting his choice of presents, but he had no time to fix the situation before Pepper was ending the conversation and turning around, startled to see him there.

He forced a smile on his face and handed her the boxes, desperately hoping that the knot in the pit of his stomach was not visible.

Pepper opened the first present, the necklace. She briefly looked dismayed, but it was quickly hidden under a facade of happiness. Tony explained that citrine was his mother's favorite stone and the happiness looked more genuine.

She turned, still smiling, and opened the box containing the contracts. Tony wished he could reach out, snatch that damn box away. He didn't want to hurt her.

It was too late, though. It was always too late for him. She was opening the box, reading the papers, and looking stunned. Not in a good way, either.

Tony didn't know what expression was on his face, but he knew that he had no control over it at the moment. Pepper looked _crushed_. He had overheard her optimism and now she was being proven wrong. Painfully.

He opened his mouth, to say what exactly he didn't know, when she stood. Carefully, she put the necklace back in its box. She stacked everything into a neat pile and handed it to Tony. Then, she pulled the ring off her left hand and put it on top.

Tony waited until she had left the room before sinking to his knees, hands heedlessly coming up to cover his face, and sobbing.

* * *

Pepper was crying, too, tears trailing silently down her face. Determinedly, she marched to the bedroom, pulling a suitcase from a closet and tossing all of her things inside. She would worry about wrinkles later. Removing all of her things from the bathroom, she did a visual sweep for any personal belongings she may have forgotten before exiting the building and hailing a taxi.

When she arrived at her apartment, she allowed herself to fully break down, wailing. She indulged for only a few minutes before grabbing the box of tissues and drying her face. There was a carton of Ben and Jerry's in the freezer calling her name.

She spent the rest of the evening on the couch watching westerns. They were mind-numbing and featured very little romance. When the first quart of Ben and Jerry's ran out, she called down to the all-hours delivery store to bring her three more. She made it through two of those before falling asleep to the sound of gunfire.

* * *

Tony was curled into a ball on the floor, Pepper's ring clutched tightly in his hand. He knew that things had been nearing the end for a while now, but he didn't want to admit it to himself.

They had been a good pair while the honeymoon phase lasted, but when it wore off...

Tony finally fell asleep about two in the morning, still on the floor in the fetal position.

The next morning, he woke up, showered, and dressed. Then he told JARVIS to ask Ms. Potts to meet him at the steakhouse at Fifth and Main for lunch at 12:30.

JARVIS told him that she would be there.

* * *

Both approached this lunch warily. They sat down and apologized, tripping over each other's words.

They agreed that things just weren't working. It was amicable, though. Tony told her that she would always have a job with him and he really wished she would stay on.

Pepper looked askance at him and he laughed nervously. He knew that was a stupid thing to say when he thought it.

She did ask for some time off, to go visit her family. He readily granted it, offering to purchase her plane ticket.

She declined, feeling like this was something she would need to do for herself. He looked sad, but didn't fight her.

When they parted, they shook hands. Before he could over-think it, Tony darted in, kissing her cheek quickly.

They smiled and went their separate ways.

* * *

The next day, Tony contacted both City Councils and told them that he was not withdrawing the funding, but he felt it would be better for them to keep their original names. They knew better than to question his motives, not with the size of the checks they were going to get each month.

He took the necklace back to Tiffany's himself, along with the ring. He couldn't return it, since it had been worn, but he could sell it for the price of the gold and diamonds.

Upon his return to the Tower, he smashed every bottle of liquor in the building. He wanted to be a better person, not for anyone else's sake, but his own.

* * *

Pepper's family welcomed her back with open arms. She was able to catch up with her nieces and nephew. The stack of books that had been sitting, unread, on her nightstand was demolished in about a week. She went to the bookstore for more.

On her third trip to restock, she was finally able to pick up a romance. She didn't even feel like crying when she finished it.

* * *

Both were affected by their time together, and both were healing.


End file.
